Tag: Ministry of Home Affairs

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The Men of Keluarga Malaysia

Khairy Jamaluddin and Hamzah Zainuddin

MANY still think that when we went to vote on  May 9 2018, it was to vote in a government for the people by the people based on the political party the majority of whom had won the people’s confidence. 

This is due to the Alliance, and subsequently Barisan Nasional, being in power virtually unchallenged for 61 years, with two-thirds majority for the most part of it.

Three prime ministers later we know that that is not entirely true – that we voted in individuals no matter the party, those whom we think would be best to represent us in His Majesty’s government.

This government administers the nation on behalf of His Majesty, and leading its members is the Member of Parliament who has the greatest support, a constitutional concept that had become alien because of BN’s past political dominance.

It may not be the government that some voters want. It may not be the perfect government. Neither side of the political fence wants this government to work, and Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri is not the choice of PM that his own party would like to have.

But this is the government that has the confidence of His Majesty, and this isthe face of the future for as long as no one political coalition has two-thirds majority in Parliament.

We can see who have been working in Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri’s administration, who have been shadow playing, and who are the deadbeats. 

Only two have caught my eye. They are, to me, those who work for the Keluarga Malaysia concept.

Datuk Seri Hamzah  Zainudin

This former Umno minister is seen by his former party as a traitor for jumpingship seven months after the BN administration fell. Datuk Seri Hamzah did not hold any ministerial post during the Pakatan Harapan administration.

He was made the Home Affairs Minister during the Muhyiddin Yassin administration and has continued holding this portfolio since.

Apart from the episode with former IGP Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador, there is very little noise regarding Hamzah. From the Muhyiddin administration Hamzah is seen doing his job as the Home Affairs Minister, even taking a different route compared to his predecessors. 

For instance, working hand-in-hand with Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan, Hamzah has done away with the need for third-party involvement in legalising illegal immigrants for selected industries. This greatly reduces corrupt acts involved in the process of registering these workers as we have seen in the past.

His penchant for “seeing things for himself” has allowed him to assist government agencies and departments under his Ministry in providing the best of services directly to the people. 

Immediately after the landslide tragedy in Yan, Kedah last year, as well as after the recent floods, he urged the Royal
Malaysian Police, the National Registration Department, as well as the Immigration Department to deploy their mobile police station and counters to enable victims who have lost their personal documents to make police reports and obtain new personal documents without having to travel tens of miles to get things done. And these services were provided for free for the victims. Such initiatives augured well with the people.

Interesting to note is that when he went to visit victims to present aid, he did not drown himself in self-promotion exercise like other politicians would.

Instead, he chose to portray himself as representing the Prime Minister and the Keluarga Malaysia initiative. What this demonstrates is his political maturity in putting aside political and party differences in order to fulfil his duty as a Minister in His Majesty’s Government, chosen by a Prime Minister who is from a different political coalition.

Hamzah may be the Secretary-General for Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional, but I view him as a strategist who knows when to fight it out when needed so, but also when to put self-political interest aside to make sure that the government that he is a part of, truly works for the people.

Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar

Many would disagree with me over this choice, especially those in Umno who see him as one of those who was against  Datuk Seri Najib Razak before the previous general election. Ten years ago, I would not write this too, but I have to look at things objectively since I do not belong to any political party.

Khairy is seen as ambitious. Those at the top are eager to see his political career end. Even Umno’s No.2 Datuk Seri  Mohamad Hasan, otherwise known as Tok Mat, has already announced his plan to contest in Khairy’s parliamentary seat of Rembau, leaving the latter with nowhere to go in Negeri Sembilan.

If it is true that Umno is eager to bury Khairy, then the Grand Old Party is just that – grand by resting on its laurels and old; the bitter lessons of GE14 very quickly forgotten. It is a party with 3.35 million members that had failed to hold on to its power in 2018 despite its size – all because it could not read the sentiments on the ground.

When Umno and the Barisan Nasional fell out of favour with the voters, I had expected to see Khairy jump ship. I would have lost some money had I bet on that. Instead, Khairy did not budge. Even as he was ridiculed by those from within his party, Khairy held on and played his role as an Opposition MP. I looked at the Internet to see what people said of him then and immediately knew that many wished Khairy was not from Umno.

Then, Covid-19 hit our shores. A month and a half later the Pakatan Harapan fell and Khairy was made Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation in the Muhyiddin administration. He was tasked with spearheading and managing the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme or PICK, sometime doling out more than half a million doses of vaccines a day nationwide.

He was also spotted at vaccination centres several times helping the volunteers registering vaccine recipients.

As of Jan 19 2022, PICK has fully-vaccinated almost 80 percent of the population and almost 31 percent have received their booster dose.

Now as the Health Minister in the Ismail Sabri administration, Khairy goes down to government hospitals and clinics unannounced to see for himself the problems health front-liners face on a daily basis, especially situations exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Not only that, he also faces the public every now and then, and allow them to vent out at him.

Again, praises from the normal Janes and Joes drown noises made by detractors – those from within his own party, and the anti-vaxxers. Even so, Khairy continues to soldier on undistracted. His record speaks for himself. As at Jan 20 2022, the death rate in Malaysia compared to unvaccinated people is 25 times lower for those fully vaccinated and 148 times lower for those who have received their booster dose. Now in a true Keluarga Malaysia style, Khairy is concentrating on vaccinating children between the age of five and 12.

Umno has to realise that it is not going to be party members that will win them the next general election, but the support of the ordinary voters who vote based on what they now like in a candidate rather than the party symbols that the candidate represent.

Both Hamzah and Khairy are politicians who work for the people that you would wish to see more of in the future, instead of going back to what was before. My only wish is that all the ministers that we have now are of the same calibre.

(This article first appeared on The Mole )

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Surat Terbuka Untuk Charles Santiago: Ahli Parlimen Lorong Tikus

Ahli Parlimen DAP Kawasan Klang ini lebih gemar pentingkan kesejahteraan PATI berbanding keselamatan dan kesejahteraan rakyat Malaysia sendiri

Sebagai rakyat Malaysia yang menjunjung keluhuran perlembagaan dan kedaulatan undang-undang, saya tidak faham kenapa Ahli Parlimen Klang, YB Charles Santiago beriya-iya untuk membela individu yang masuk secara haram ke dalam negara tanpa ada dokumen?

Walaupun saya mengambil kira hak asasi migran sama ada yang berdokumen ataupun tidak untuk melangsungkan kehidupan, saya berpendapat hak asasi rakyat Malaysia untuk dilindungi dari sebarang gejala yang buruk, baik dari aspek sosial, moral, keselamatan mahupun kesihatan. Dengan itu, saya lebih cenderung untuk berpihak dengan Menteri Dalam Negeri serta beratus ribu petugas barisan hadapan agensi-agensi di bawah KDN yang saban hari menghadap makian dan cercaan rakyat Malaysia yang sudah muak dengan perangai migran tanpa dokumen (PATI).

Kenyataan YB Charles Santiago dari DAP yang mempersoalkan ketegasan Menteri Dalam Negeri serta agensi-agensi di bawah naungan Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN) dalam menangani isu ini adalah satu kenyataan yang bukan sahaja bodoh, malahan ianya juga satu kenyataan yang tidak patriotik.

Sebagai Ahli Parlimen, bukankah sepatutnya YB Charles Santiago turut bersama menegakkan undang-undang dan mendahulukan kepentingan rakyat Malaysia daripada semua aspek. Bukankah itu sumpah yang YB lafaz semasa menjadi seorang Ahli Parlimen, iaitu berikrar akan taat setia kepada Malaysia serta memelihara, melindungi dan mempertahankan Perlembagaan Persekutuan? Bukankah itu bermakna YB berjanji akan mendaulatkan undang-undang negara yang dibuat di bawah Perlembagaan Persekutuan Malaysia dan bukan Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Rohingya dan sebagainya?

Tidakkah YB Charles Santiago ini tahu bahawa tidak ada negara di dunia ini yang menghalalkan pendatang tanpa izin terutama sekali pendatang ekonomi. Saya cabar YB Charles Santiago untuk namakan satu sahaja negara yang mengalu-alukan kemasukan pendatang asing ke dalam negara mereka secara haram.

Malah, Netherlands yang menduduki tempat pertama dalam senarai negara paling menghormati hak asasi manusia juga telah memperkenalkan Skim Insurans Kebangsaan yang tidak meliputi PATI di negara tersebut. Langkah ini sekaligus menafikan hak PATI di negara tersebut untuk mendapatkan faedah sosial. Netherlands juga mempunyai Linkage Act, 1998: satu Akta yang menyulitkan PATI di sana untuk mendapatkan rawatan di hospital; mereka tidak boleh diberi perlindungan insurans; malah kerajaan Netherlands juga tidak bertanggung jawab di atas kos perubatan mereka.

Di sini, kita telah memperkenalkan program Rekalibrasi Tenaga Kerja sejak bulan November 2020 dan sepatutnya berakhir pada penghujung bulan ini. Kalau mereka ini berdaftar, mereka layak dilindungi di bawah Skim Bencana Kerja Pekerja Asing oleh PERKESO. Sudahlah dia PATI, kita berbaik hati nak jadikan mereka pekerja migran yang sah, lakukan saringan COVID-19 ke atas mereka, tawarkan mereka peluang pekerjaan dengan syarat mereka mendaftar dan membayar kompaun.

Tak cukup dengan itu, kita sediakan pula skim perlindungan di bawah PERKESO lagi yang akan memberi mereka faedah perlindungan. Bukankah itu menandakan bahawa kerajaan Malaysia amat baik hati serta prihatin terhadap mereka?

Sudah tujuh bulan program ini berlangsung, kenapa masih ada yang tidak mahu keluar mendaftar dan lebih gemar ke sana-sini sambil berpotensi menjadi penyebar penyakit berjangkit terutamanya COVID-19?

Kita mempunyai perundangan yang jelas mengenai PATI dan kita perlu menguatkuasakan undang-undang yang telah dibuat.

Sekiranya PATI tidak perlu diambil tindakan undang-undang maka sia-sia sahajalah undang-undang yang dibentangkan di parlimen. Baik kita buka sahaja semua pintu sempadan kita dan benarkan mereka masuk atas nama hak asasi manusia.

Berbalik kepada isu, Menteri Dalam Negeri dah jelaskan, keutamaan vaksinasi adalah terhadap rakyat Malaysia terlebih dahulu.

Persoalannya, selepas rakyat kita divaksinasi, bagaimanakah kita mahu pastikan golongan PATI yang selama ini menyorok di penempatan- penempatan haram ini akan tampil sukarela mendaftar untuk dapatkan vaksin. Tujuh bulan program Rekalibrasi Tenaga Kerja yang menjanjikan perlindungan yang lebih baik buat mereka pun mereka tidak endahkan.

Kalau ikut kebijaksanaan YB Charles Santiago dan 13 lagi Ahli Parlimen Pembangkang yang kononnya berpegang dengan prinsip kemanusiaan, YB-YB ini yakin bahawa mereka akan tampil kehadapan jika Kerajaan tidak ambil tindakan terhadap mereka. Tapi apa jaminannya? Tiada! Air liur sahaja! Talk is cheap, YB, and sorry, but Utopia does not exist.

Saya yakin dalam hal ini rakyat juga setuju dengan Menteri Dalam Negeri bahawa PATI ini tidak akan berani kedepan secara sukarela untuk mendapatkan vaksinasi. Kalau ada pun bilangannya terlalu sedikit.

Apa yang perlu kita lakukan dengan segera ialah dengan mengumpulkan mereka ke satu tempat dan lakukan ujian swab test. Ini hanya boleh dilaksanakan melalui operasi penguatkuasaan PATI secara bersepadu oleh JIM, PDRM, JPN, dan KKM.

Komuniti PATI ini adalah time-bomb. Mereka ini tidak pergi ke klinik jika ada gejala dan tidak buat swabtest walaupun mereka tahu mereka adalah kontak rapat. Dan mereka bergerak tanpa dikesan di kalangan rakya yang begitu cermat menjaga SOP agar tidak dijangkiti.

Mereka ini tiada majikan dan bebas bergaul bersama rakyat tempatan di tempat awam. Tidak wajar mereka diberikan kelonggaran dan tidak diambil tindakan. Itu adalah tindakan tidak berpelembagaan dan tidak bermaruah.

Enough is enough. Sudahlah YB Charles Santiago. Utamakan rakyat Malaysia. Jangan terhegeh-hegeh mahu bela golongan PATI. Bila tiba PRU nanti, mohon YB naik sampan pergi ke laut, rayu undi daripada mereka.

Yang sudah meluat,

Kapten (Bersara) Abdul Rahmat Omar

Rakyat Malaysia

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Government Plans to Recalibrate Undocumented Immigrants

Dato’ Seri Hamzah Zainuddin (right) with Datuk Seri M Saravanan

IN light of the difficulties in obtaining manpower by employers in this pandemic era, the government has announced a programme to recalibrate undocumented immigrants in order to make them legal for employment.

This was announced by the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin at his Ministry yesterday, after a meeting with the Minister for Human Resources Datuk Seri M Saravanan.

The recalibration programme that will be implemented from Nov 16 2020 through June 30 2021, will consist of two components; one which allows undocumented immigrants to register themselves to be employed in the four 3-D (Dirty, Dangerous and Difficult) sectors namely construction, manufacturing, plantation and agriculture, while the other allows them to return to their respective countries.

When asked about the difference compared to the previous amnesty programmes Hamzah stressed that this programme does not involve third-party vendors. 

“All undocumented immigrants in this country who wish to participate in either component must register themselves directly with the Peninsular Malaysia’s Department of Human Resources. If they and their employers meet the pre-requisites, then they will be allowed to work,” he explained.

The government expects to collect RM90 million from compounds and fines through this recalibration programme.  

Only undocumented immigrants from the 15 countries listed as allowed to be employed, who are already in Malaysia may participate in this programme.  

There are about 20,000 undocumented immigrants being held at the immigration detention centres.

This move would definitely help the industries mentioned above.  Early July,  Malaysian Employers Federation Executive Director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan said the plantation sector might lose RM142 billion in their operations this year due to a shortage of workers, while shortage of workers in the agriculture sector would lead to an increase in the price of vegetables.

Although both the Home Affairs and Human Resources Ministries have said that employers interested in the recalibration programme will have to abide by a certain ratio of foreign versus local worker limit that is to be set, it is interesting to see how many Malaysians would actually be interested in the 3-D jobs.

When the Selayang wholesale market faced a shortage of foreign workers a few months ago due to the area coming under the Enhanced Controlled Movement Order, there was a lukewarm response by Malaysians to fill in the vacancies.

Datuk Shamsuddin explained that this was not just about the wages offered. 

Although Malaysians earn double that of their foreign counterparts, the former are not used to working in such environments.

“Locals are not keen on staying long in these kinds of jobs.  They need to be brave and strengthen their attitude towards working less favourable jobs and should treat all jobs with respect.”

His main worry is that once the economy improves, the Malaysians would not want to stay in those 3-D sectors.  Therefore, Malaysia will always have that reliance on foreign workers.

Malaysians are, of course, sceptical about any such programme.  Previous amnesty programmes, especially those run by third-party vendors have always been open to abuse.  

Despite having the 6P amnesty programme in 2011, the number of immigrants, both legal and undocumented, increased by 1.013 million between 2010 and 2019.

To allay this fear, Hamzah said that the wages that are to be paid to the legalised immigrants under this recalibration scheme will only be done electronically (e-Wages).

“When there is no money being deposited by the employer, then we will know that they are no longer being employed.  It would be easier for us to track them down.”

Any employer caught employing an undocumented immigrant after June 30 2021 will be fined RM50,000 or a jail term of up to 12 months per worker. If they are caught with five or more undocumented worker, the penalty shall include whipping.

(This article first appeared on The Mole )

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The Sinister Daily

Ask Blogger-turned-Deputy Minister, YB Dato’ P. Kamalanathan, about fake news and he would lament the demise of ethical journalism.  He was once asked by a journalist from a local daily to comment on the video of an Indian-looking woman having her head shaved by two Malay-looking men that was made viral.

Being a responsible social media practitioner, Kamalanathan made the effort to verify the authenticity of the video, only to find out that it had originated from a South American nation, and the incident had happen in that particular country.

When we talk about the ethics of journalism, we would easily imagine the responsibility to ensure the accuracy of the journalists’ work; to verify information before releasing an article; and to shun stereotyping.  Unfortunately, in the world of today’s journalism, accuracy is no longer a value but sensationalism is.  More often than not, an article is conjured to shape the way readers think rather than to allow them to form their own opinion based on a balanced article.

Coincidentally, twenty years ago this year, the eighteenth James Bond movie was released. It was about a psychopathic media mogul who plans to provoke global war to boost sales and ratings of his news divisions.  Although far-fetched, the plot is what many online and print media do nowadays.  And what is to be provoked may not be as dangerous as a global war but equally explosive racial or religious clashes.

Enter The Star.

Yesterday evening, The Star announced the immediate suspension of its Group Editor-in-Chief, Datuk Leanne Goh Lee Yen and executive director Dorairaj Nadason, but not before it sent four editors to face the wrath of the KDN.  The KDN had slapped the daily with a seven-day show cause, while the Inspector-General of Police has begun investigating it under the Sedition Act.

Sedition Act may be seen as a heavy-handed response, but not given The Star’s penchant for inciting racial and religious outrage. It has an array of examples of provoking the above.

During the month of Ramadhan in 2011, The Star published three pork-centred advertisements in its Ramadhan Delights pullout.  Three pork advertisements in a Ramadhan Delights pullout could not have been unintentional. The KDN summoned The Star and was let off with a slap on the wrist.

A screenshot of justread-whatever.blogspot.com article on The Star’s Ramadhan Pork Fest

A mere two years later, it published a report on the rise in the number of child marriages in Malaysia.  The choice of visual display accompanying the report was extremely suggestive.

The suggestive photo used by The Star when reporting on child marriages

The Star harped only on the 2012 statistics provided by the Malaysian Syariah Judiciary Depart­ment (JKSM) where 1022 marriage application involving at least a minor was approved by the Syariah judiciary.  And then it sought the view of Sisters in Islam to justify the report, putting Islam in a bad light.

What it failed to report was that in the same year, 468 marriages involving non-Muslim minors were also approved.  How is that for balanced reporting?  I know that the link given is from 2016, but could the The Star journalist filing that story not have gone to the National Registraton Department to seek for the non-Muslim numbers?

What is sad is that the story was filed by a Muslim journalist.

However, not all of The Star’s journalists were dancing the same tune.  Joceline Tan whose columns have been taking on the Opposition by the horns, faces the wrath of the DAP and PKR on almost a daily basis.  Another was Sira Habibu who, when based in Pulau Pinang, wrote exposés on the DAP and PKR polls.

Things changed for Sira Habibu when Leanne Goh was appointed the Group Editor-in-Chief in 2014.  Sira was tranferred to Kelantan and away from being able to do stories on especially the DAP.  She had one very notable article ridiculing the DAP polls which was given the title “It’s All In The Family For DAP’s Top Rung.”

Sira Habibu’s article ridiculing the DAP line up

If you search for the article using its URL now, which is www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2012/12/10/its-all-in-the-family-for-daps-top-rung/ you will find that it is no longer there.

This is where Sira Habibu’s article on the DAP line up was

Leanne Goh did not even defend Joceline Tan’s writing when attacked by a former The Star journalists for being anti-Opposition.

Since then, The Star has been pandering to the DAP evangelists and Liberal Muslims on the pretext of promoting a “Moderate Malaysia.”

When Pastor Ramond Koh went missing in February 2017, The Star went to town with the case, reporting at least seven times between March and May this year on the issue with headlines such as this:

The above headline suggests that the Malaysian security forces and indirectly the Malaysian government may be involved in the disappearance of the said pastor.  The location of the video is not where the pastor was first said to have gone missing and the speed of the CCTV camera panning suggests that there was someone controlling the camera and that the person knew what to wait for and what was going to happen.

The Star’s coverage of the missing pastor was picked up by foreign portals that have since put Malaysia in a bad light.

All the above quoted The Star.  So what is Leanne Goh’s game?

The Star has since suspended Leanne Goh and a senior editor Dorairaj Nadason over the frontpage fiasco, and have returned Datuk Wong Chun Wai to oversee the editorial operations.  But mind you some of the examples I mentioned above also happened during Chun Wai’s time as the GEIC which goes to show that he was not in total control back then.

The Star has issued countless apologies especially to the Muslims in Malaysia but has remained remorseless.

So would Chun Wai be able to wrestle the evangelist and liberal monsters who reside within The Star, or would a suspension of its publishing and printing permits that it so deserves be needed to remind not only The Star, but all journalists to be ethical? Maybe only then its habit of promoting racial and religious hatred will stop.

We will see what the next six days will bring us.